Future Airline
by Radicelle
Summary: How hard was it to come back after five years spent roaming the world, only to find the place he had always loved had changed to the point he couldn't recognize it anymore?


"Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Captain Skyla and the entire crew, welcome aboard our flight from Saffron City, Kanto to Rustboro City, Hoenn. Our flight time will be of three hours and thirty-five minutes.

At this time, make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Please make sure you have fastened your seatbelt correctly. All electric devices, including Pokénav, Pokéwatch and the like are to be turned off for the duration of the flight.

We want to remind you every Pokémon susceptible to cause electromagnetic disturbances must stay in its poke ball for the duration of the flight. Please make sure your companion is suited to the space available; we advise you strongly to let them in their poke ball as long as we haven't taken off. Zangoose and Seviper are to be kept in ball. All Pokémon battles are forbidden in the plane. Thank you."

Steven sighed in relief: the intercom's irritating voice had stopped. The first class was empty barring him, but he couldn't take his Pokémon out anyway. Well at least he would have a peaceful flight.

He fastened his seat belt. After his defeat against May a few years before, he had started going around the world. This time he was coming back from a geologist conference taking place in Pewter City, and after all those years, coming back home.

He hadn't come back since then. He still talked with Wallace on the Pokénav, and received letters from his father twice a year. But he had pretty much cut all ties with Hoenn. He wondered what had happened while he was away. Wallace wouldn't tell him anything about May or the League; the Water Gym leader wouldn't even tell him if the champion had changed. Each time, Wallace would tell him "If you want to know, look by yourself. It's not that hard to find, and I'm amazed you still haven't done it."

One would think after five years he would spill the beans, but no, not a word.

Though Steven never tried to think about why he was reluctant about finding the whereabouts of his birthplace.

Moving around to get comfortable in his seat, the trainer tried to find the sleep that escaped his grasp those days.

* * *

><p>"Sir, do you need anything?"<p>

A feminine voice jerked him awake. Somehow he recognized it, but he didn't know from where. Looking at the source of it, he saw a young woman dressed in a tailored suit, straight red skirt with a matching red jacket; around her neck was tied a red and white ribbon. He guessed she was one of the flight attendants, thought it took him quite a bit of time.

It was a brown haired girl, about twenty years old; she had a round face, big bright eyes and an air of innocence. She looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on where exactly he had met her.

"Sir? Are you feeling alright?"

He realized he had been staring at her with surprise for a bit too long, and hadn't even talked to her. His open-mouthed dumbfounded expression straightened quickly and he managed to school a smile.

"Sorry, I was sleeping. What is it that you want?"

The flight attendant smiled brightly, though he could see she was a little embarrassed.

"We have taken off about twenty minutes ago, I'm sorry I didn't notice you were asleep. Do you need anything?"

In fact he only needed to be left alone, but he thought such a harsh reply might crush her pretty smile.

"A glass of water would be fine, thank you."

Being given a task, she beamed with joy and completely forgot she had just bothered one of the passengers. She was a bit special, Steven decided.

The young woman came back moments after with the cart, quickly pouring him his glass of water. She presented it and he took it with a smile.

"Is there anything else you need? The meals will be distributed in about an hour."

"No thank you." He replied with his best attempt at a cordial tone.

She smiled again and went back to her other occupations, mainly going into the second and third class section with her cart. Steven emptied his glass and tried his best to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>He had been sleeping – he didn't know for how long – a noise had awakened him; it was only a mild disturbance and he would have fell asleep immediately if he hadn't heard a loud, rolling laughter.<p>

He stirred in his seat. What the hell was happening? Wasn't he supposed to enjoy a peaceful travel with how much he had paid the flight?

"What the hell were you doing Anna?" It was the flight attendant from before. Her voice sounded almost panicked.

Hearing this, he had the bad feeling that if he showed he was awake he wouldn't know exactly what was happening. He kept his eyes closed and did his best to look asleep.

"Relax; I didn't do anything; besides he didn't even wake up." That voice he didn't know; it was a woman, and she sounded cheeky, almost smug.

"And what would you have done, had he woken up?" The woman he had met earlier was on the verge of shouting.

"I simply would have said 'Sir, do you need anything?'. You're the one making mountains out of Drilbur hill."

Steven heard a chortled gasp, then an angered growl from the brown-haired girl who slammed her foot on the floor.

"You're lucky I can't do anything about it right here. You can be sure I'll report this to the Captain as soon as we have landed. You're not even supposed to take care of this part of the plane! Go back to third class!"

The other woman laughed heartily and he heard her, or supposed it was her, going away. The young attendant was still fuming, and it took her about a minute before she breathed out deeply.

"OK, I'm right now." She breathed out again, and he could almost picture in his mind the smile she had painted on her face: professional yet joyful.

He heard her go into the cabin.

What the hell had the other woman done to him? He thought with a tinge of anxiety. He opened his eyes: his clothes were normal; he felt his face and nothing stood out. He still had his pants on… What could it have been? He got up and aimed for the toilets. His reflection in the mirror didn't reveal anything.

He was lost, frankly.

Getting out of the toilets he bumped into the young flight attendant with brown hair. She made a pained face before noticing what had hit her.

"Oh you've woken up, sir!" She exclaimed; then it was as if a sudden realization hit her with the force of a mach punch.

She abruptly brought her head up and stared in his eyes intently.

"I'm sorry, but… Did we wake you up?" Her words were pronounced boldly.

They were standing there, and Steven was kind of taken aback. His lack of expression made her distressed. She couldn't stand his intense stare any longer and averted her eyes. She bit her lip and looked around frantically; a slight blush of embarrassment was tinting her cheeks.

"What did this woman do to me?"

It was the young woman's turn to look dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry sir, but what do you mean?" She raised her head to meet his eyes. She could read something in his stare that didn't bode well with her. "Sir?"

"I heard you talk about something she did to me. What was it?"

She looked shocked and puzzled for a split instant before her face lit up and she sighed with relief.

"Hum… You misunderstood, Sir. Anna didn't do anything to you; we were talking about something totally different."

He frowned. He didn't buy what she said for a bit.

"And pray tell, what was this thing you were talking about?"

She was a bit offended that he didn't believe her, it seemed.

"Follow me and I'll show you." She replied defiantly.

She led him to the front of the first class: a man was sleeping there, fully decked in air attendant uniform. Had he been so absorbed by his attempt to understand what the women were talking about that he hadn't seen him?

The young woman pointed at the sleeping man: a golden ring was on his left hand.

"They're newlywed." She was fidgety explaining this. "He's not feeling well so he had to come here to rest but she wanted to… Erm."

She made a tentative glance toward him. He looked overwhelmed.

"Is this serious?" His tone was stark.

"Yes! Yes of course! That's the truth!" She looked around her wildly, trying to think of a way to prove what she had said. "Do you want to ask her about it to get a confirmation? I can go get her if you want." Though she made a face saying those words.

"No, that's enough. Just make sure I won't be bothered again until we land."

"I'm deeply sorry, sir. I'll see with the captain if there is anything the company can do to make up for all the inconvenience." She was flustered, but not in a good way. "If you'll let me know your name I'll make it up to you."

"It's fine," He replied a little coldly. "Go back to what you're supposed to do."

She looked up to him dejectedly and opened her mouth as if she was going to talk, then decided to go. Steven just sighed and let himself fall back in his seat.

This was really a bad day.

The rest of the flight passed according to his desires. The attendant didn't even try to talk to him again, just going past his seat at light speed when traveling back and forth. The man sleeping at the front got up about ten minutes before they landed and walked dizzily to the personnel's cabin. Moments after, the brown haired woman dragged the conspicuous woman from before in the front of the plane and slammed her down on a seat.

"Don't dare to move." The young woman glowered at her colleague. Said colleague only replied with a laugh.

Steven didn't react and kept his eyes closed.

As soon as they hit the tarmac and he could get off the plane, he dashed his way out. He was now wandering aimlessly around Rustboro city. Was he trying to delay his meeting with his father as much as possible? Maybe.

He was on auto pilot, and nearing the woods. The city hadn't changed that much in five years: it was still the same old buildings of grey stone, the same paved roads and green environment. He hadn't checked if Roxanne was still the Gym Leader, but she was bound to have grown. Maybe she had taken over as an instructor at the school?

"Hey! Steven!"

The trainer turned around. On the moment he didn't recognize the voice, but seeing the red haired girl all decked in a blue suit, he had an illumination.

"Skyla, what are you doing here?"

The girl – no, she was a woman now – got up to him with a bright smile.

"I could ask you the same thing if I hadn't known you had taken the last plane from Kanto. In case you were as attentive as ever to the attendant's message, I was the pilot."

Her smile only brightened as she saw the stupid air Steven had.

"Anyway, it's been a while. What were you doing in Kanto? Rummaging through the dirt of Mount Moon?"

"No, I was at a conference. It only took me a week." He replied curtly.

"Hey, no need to act like that." She taunted back.

"Why are you a pilot now?"

"I was fed up with being a Gym leader. I wanted to take a break and things were shifting quickly back in Unova. There was an opportunity to expand Mistralton's airport, and I took it. By the way, didn't you realize Rustboro's airport had changed? Before it was barely an aerodrome, now it's a fully fledged international airport. Your father's company took a great part in the project."

At the mention of his father, Steven couldn't help cringing. That didn't stop the female pilot from going on.

"In the span of a few years, with Voltaire's technological help we managed to create a worldwide air traffic web, encompassing all major regions. Going from Kalos to Unova require less than twelve hours of flight, and less than four hours in optimal conditions to make a Kanto-Hoenn flight! This opened endless possibility of economic development we could never had envisioned about ten years ago! Of course, majority of the commercial exchange still use the maritime roads, especially in water-filled regions like Unova or Hoenn. The benefits each part of the project got from this is immeasurable, and it even gave Voltaire the funds he always had wanted to transform Mauville City. The town has become a bumbling economic core for the region, and a hub for international goods."

She stopped just long enough to catch her breath again, but Steven put his hands up.

"Calm down. Don't dump all of your enthusiasm on me like that at once." He retorted.

"Huh, But I figured you didn't know anything about what happened while you were away."

Now that was something strange. Had the Unovian trainer formed such deep bonds with the people here that she knew all about his whereabouts?

Or could it be?

"Is it Wallace that told you that?"

She looked at him with wide eyes, feeling the implication behind his words.

"No, we're just friends. Why is that?"

It had passed through Steven's mind that Wallace might have had a thing for Flying-type trainer, but he wasn't so sure now in front of her reaction. Not knowing what to answer, Steven stayed silent, refusing to try and see through the emotions Skyla's eyes conveyed. She just let out a sigh.

"It's just that you're easy to read, Steven." She quipped, "It's even a wonder you're surprised. You might have been away from home for too long, your mind has become a bit dull. You know, in this new world we're trying to create, I didn't want to contribute as a trainer anymore."

"Don't start again with your economic dissertation, please." He sighed.

"That's not what I was going to do. What I meant is… Have you found what you want to be in this world?"

"I'm sorry?" He thought he had misheard something. Since when was Skyla interested in Philosophy? Sure they weren't the closest people around, but they had sort of became friends after all those matches at the PWT, and after he had transited through her airport so many times those past years. But he still thought he knew more about her than that.

"You should think about your future, Steven; keeping your head under heaps of rocks all your life is just a vain attempt at maintaining the status quo, to live in the past."

He was even more awestruck by what she had just said. So awestruck that he couldn't say or do a thing seeing her leave. She took her baggage and got a poke ball out of it, releasing a Braviary; she was ready to take off.

"Oh, one last thing before I go: next time try to be more civil with the flight attendant. The poor May was really depressed."

He barely registered the name before she hopped on her pokémon's back and launched herself in the air. He didn't have the time to ask her if he had understood what she said.

May was a flight attendant, Skyla wasn't a Gym Leader anymore... What kind of other surprises awaited him here? Ah, yes: Mauville had become the center of the region and Voltaire had let his fantasies run wild.

And it struck him: who was the gym leader now?


End file.
